Video: Life at 108: Life can be great at 108

Thursday

Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2008 at 10:41 PM

Milly England is 108, one of the oldest people in the state, and the world, for that matter.

Rebecca Hyman

Milly England is 108, one of the oldest people in the state, and the world, for that matter.
But what’s really extraordinary is she’s thriving, mentally alert and physically spry, friends and family say.

Not only does she still do her own cooking and cleaning, she’s a crack whist player.

The Lakeville resident regularly goes head to head with her fellow seniors, some 40 years her junior, at the Bridgewater senior center’s Saturday night whist parties.

“She’s sharp as a tack. She’s one of the best players we have,” said Dave Gonsalves, a Taunton school teacher and whist enthusiast, who organizes the biweekly get-togethers.
England, who has been playing whist for 60 years, said she thinks it’s good for the mind.
“You try to get the best of the other guy. You’ve got to try to figure out what the other guy’s thinking and use your head,” she said.

Whist volunteer Ed Shonio said England is an excellent player.

Whist is a trick-taking card game similar to bridge, but not as difficult, Shonio said. Still, it requires concentration and memory, he said. You have to know which cards have been played and what’s coming up next.

“I have never known her to make mistakes,” Shonio said.

England said she never expected to live so long and is not sure why she has.

When pressed, she says she has always been a good sleeper, always stayed active and loves to laugh.

“Here I still am. I think it’s the way you’re made,” she said.

But England doesn’t spend a lot of time pondering the secret to her longevity.

She’s too busy enjoying life.

In fact, she doesn’t devote a lot of energy to existential ruminations in general.

England says she doesn’t worry about dying one day.

“It comes to everybody. You’ve got to accept it. Don’t bother about it. It’s no use. Say to heck with it. A lot came before and a lot will come after,” she said.

Her fearlessness isn’t born of a belief in an afterlife, but instead of a focus on the present.

“I think we go and that’s it, but we can hope for the best,” England said with a playful chuckle.

Milly England was born Amelia Bowden in Bolton, Lancashire, England on May 15, 1900, to Sarah and Percival Bowden, the eldest of six children, according to the centenarian’s Web site, www.millyengland.com, set up by her grandniece Wendy Messaline, with whom England lives in a mother-in-law apartment.

Her family immigrated to America in 1911, settling in New Bedford. Ten-year-old Milly recalls caring for her little brother Herbert on the long ship ride across the Atlantic.
England never had any children but she loves young people and spent a lifetime babysitting her many nieces and nephews and neighbors’ kids, she said.

“Half of New Bedford calls me Aunt Milly,” she said.

England, who spent many years working in the textile mills of New Bedford, outlived two husbands, both wonderful men, she said.

“Do you think I could get another one?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

England sits upright in her chair, graceful and relaxed. She is a natty dresser, in slacks and a sweater topped off with a bit of jewelry. Her face is remarkably unlined and youthful looking.

Last year, she fell and broke her hip. Gonsalves said he feared it would be the beginning of the end, but instead she made a full recovery. She had surgery, and is now back on her feet.

“The doctor said, it’s either have surgery or stay like this, so I said, ‘Let’s go,’” England recounts.

She owns a walker but often neglects to use it as she bolts determinedly across the room. Despite her age, she exudes a restless energy.

“I always want to do two or three things at a time.”

The self-described optimist, said she enjoys reading, watching television and digging into a stack of pancakes. She said her biggest health problem is significant hearing loss.
“I haven’t got my hearing, but if I didn’t have my eyes, it would be worse. You look on the bright side, at what you’ve got,” she said.

Messaline said her aunt is an inspiration to the rest of the family. Everyone marvels at her positive attitude and delights in her stories about her youth, Messaline said.

Nobody has any idea why England has lived so long, Messaline said. She just seems to love life and isn’t easily discouraged, Messaline said.

“I think it’s a combination of good genes, a strong will and independence,” she said.
As England settles in for a hand of cards with her whist buddies, she playfully warns, “Am I going to beat you. Let’s go.”

For more information about Milly England, visit her Web site, www.millyengland.com.